Praedicator

Verba

Friday, January 31, 2014 - Friday in the 3rd Week in Ordinary Time

[2 Sam 11:1-4a, 5-10a, 13-17 and Mark 4:26-34]

To what shall we compare the Kingdom of God, or what parable can we use for it? It is like a mustard seed that, when it is sown in the ground, is the smallest of all the seeds on the earth. But once it is sown, it springs up and becomes the largest of plants and puts forth large branches, so that the birds of the sky can dwell in its shade.

JANUARY 31 ST. JOHN BOSCO, sdb

Farming and gardening are really acts of hope! The only thing we can control is when we plant the seed. We cannot control the circumstances entirely, no matter how well we prepare the ground or time the sowing. Even the most "scientific" of farmers can be completely foiled by drought or pestilence! There is a tremendous satisfaction in the planting and harvesting, but ultimately it is a matter of hoping that the efforts will yield great fruit. Jesus' audience knew this because most of them were subsistence farmers (or fishermen).

The amazing part of this is the transformation of a tiny seed into a very large plant (or into any plant at all)! It is this act of creation, designed by God, that should be a reminder to us of where we stand. We are not the creators of the seed/plant process! We give our efforts to the spread of the "kingdom" - that's our role - but the "increase" is out of our control. God gives this. I know from my years of campus ministry and itinerant preaching that I will not always see the fruits of my efforts, but I still must plant the seeds of the Kingdom. Parents and grandparents experience this same process. Our satisfaction must often come from knowing that we have done our part to spread the kingdom by acts great and small, and leave the rest to God! AMEN